The present invention generally relates to sanding devices, and more particularly to a hand-sized, disposable sanding device which can be held in the hand for sanding a variety of surface shapes and configurations.
Common sanding jobs calling for considerable detail work or access to small confined areas, or for the sanding of contoured surfaces, will often require that the surfaces be hand sanded. Heretofore, hand-held sanding devices devised for this purpose consist essentially of a sanding block for holding conventional sandpaper wrapped over the block; by using a sanding block as a sandpaper holder, hand-applied sanding forces on the sandpaper can be increased and more evenly distributed. One such device is disclosed in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,096, dated Feb. 26, 1985, wherein a generally triangularly shaped sandpaper holding device provides three different sanding surfaces and corners for accommodating a variety of sanding conditions. The sandpaper wrapped around the faces of this device is held at its ends by means of an angled slot located in one of its faces.
The difficulty with the above-mentioned prior sanding devices is the necessity of installing or wrapping a separate piece of sandpaper around the device. This installation or wrapping process presents some inconvenience to the user, and the paper, if improperly installed, is susceptible to falling off. Also, the device requires the purchase of separate sheets of sandpaper which is a further inconvenience in terms of the amount of supplies needed.
The present invention overcomes the foregoing difficulties of hand-held sanding devices by providing a hand-sized sanding device which eliminates the need for a separate sheet of sandpaper. A sanding device is particularly provided which has its own integral abrasive surfaces and which can be manufactured at a sufficiently low cost to be disposable. The invention further provides a self-contained sanding device that can be conveniently used off-the-shelf to hand sand a variety of standard, contoured or shaped surfaces, such as trim or molding surfaces, and for projecting into exactly defined areas.